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1 Introduction

The migration phenomenon has become one of the hottest issues nowadays, however, migrations have been known since the time the first humans populated the planet.

“The scientific research located the first humans in Africa; from this area they migrated and started to populate the whole planet. In the most part of human existence, the nomadism and not the sedentary lifestyle have to be a characteristic part of human life” (ACCEM 2008, p. 6).

It is perfectly understandable that the debate about the current influx of migrants to Europe is precarious and polarized. Migration has always been one of the main drivers of human history; and that is why it has never been seen as contradictory to the phenomenon of both positive and negative. Large waves of migration in the past were often accompanied by the collapse of a functioning order. On the other hand, migration was often at the mythical beginning of the national history.

2 Two Different Points of View on Migration: Andalusia and the Czech Republic

In this part of research we are going to discuss the migration phenomenon in two territories: Andalusia and the Czech Republic; the idea is to emphasise possible consequences of this process and try to suggest possible solutions.

Since respondents answers are affected by their societies and culture as well as by historical events, the Czech culture cannot be the same as the Andalusian one; therefore, possible answers to the same problem in both societies will be different, however the problem is the same but not the society.

For that reason, before discussing the migration nowadays, it is necessary to make a summary about the history of migration in general and in both territories in detail. In addition, a survey of the population of both zones will be made to know how people feel this phenomenon and what relevant measures could be taken (Rosicka et al. 2008; Rosicka 2004).

2.1 Brief Migration History

Migration is as old as humankind itself, and always has a crucial influence on the further historical development. Leaving aside the assessment of the current situation, we can remind seven largest and most significant migrations in human history (Vojáček 2015).

  • Biblical Exodus

Legendary escape of Jews led by Prophet Moses from Egyptian captivity occurred in the 13th century B.C and it is still considered the oldest historical migration wave.

  • Moving nations: it led the Czechs to Central Europe!

Perhaps, the largest wave of ‘moving of nations’ occurred in late antiquity and the Middle Ages; it was the largest migration of all time, which permanently transformed the map of Europe and North Africa: it was caused mostly by predatory raids of nomadic barbarian tribes on the decaying Roman Empire. However, a significant role was also played by boosted European population, climate change and the transformation of the existing way of life. The foundations of many states were being laid during the centuries-long process. West Slavic tribes came to Central Europe within this mass migration: later, the current Czech nation could form of them. However, this ‘moving of nations’ spell disaster and irretrievable extinction for the Romans (Gavriluţă 2016).

  • The fall of the Byzantine Empire: speeding up the onset of the Renaissance

The conquest of Constantinople by the Turks in 1543 marks the end of the Byzantine Empire, which was the last remnant of the ancient Roman Empire and causes extensive emigration of Byzantine scholars to western countries, especially in contemporary Italy. These scholars bring with them knowledge of Greek as well as ancient Greek philosophy and culture: that existing medieval society had about all only vague dim idea. Escaped intellectuals contribute in a significant way to the birth of the Renaissance.

  • The expulsion of Jews and Muslims from Spain: the King impoverishes his own country!

After the unification of Spain at the end of the 15th century, the Catholic King Ferdinand of Aragon strives to persuade all subjects to exercise his faith. Therefore the Spanish Inquisition is established and it is primarily focused on local Jews and Muslims. In spring of 1492 this fact led to expulsion of all Jews from the Iberian Peninsula and several hundreds of thousands of people are leaving the territory. They find refuge in the Ottoman Empire where the Sultan Bajazet II receives them with open arms. He is well aware how such a strong group of population can be beneficial economically. “It is foolish, indeed, to call Ferdinand a wise ruler,” says Sultan. “It is he who impoverished his own country and enriched mine!” This opinion is shared by today's historians as well. Neither the confiscated property can outweigh the loss caused by the Spanish Edict of expulsion!

  • The settlement of the New World: it was caused by hunger, unwanted faith and desire for wealth!

The discovery by America by Christopher Columbus in October 1492 triggers off a massive migration of people in Europe on a new continent. In addition to adventurers and greedy colonizers, those are also unwanted religious groups in Europe: all of them are looking overseas for a safe place to practise their faith. At other times, the massive migration results from tragic events such as Great Famine in Ireland in the mid-19th century: about two million Irish go to the United States during that period. The arrival of a number of capable and brave people gradually makes the United States the most advanced world superpower. However, on the other hand, the indigenous Indian population is almost exterminated due to immigrants!

  • Leaving Protestants from Bohemia during the Thirty-Year War: the Teacher of Nations flees as well!

The 30 year War is responsible for one of the major migration waves taking place within the Bohemian territory. The victory of the Catholic troops led by Habsburg Emperor Ferdinand II in the Battle of White Mountain induces Czech Protestant Estates to escape after 1620, particularly to the Netherlands, Sweden, and German-speaking countries. Thus, from the Bohemian kingdom, considerable amount of artists and scholars leave, e.g. a Baroque painter Karel Skreta, or Jan Amos Komensky, a philosopher and writer known as the “Teacher of Nations”.

  • World War II: it expels 60 million people from homes!

The Second World War is responsible for the largest migration in history in terms of number of refugees. The most pessimistic estimates state that 60 million people had to leave their homes: those were mainly Jews and fleeing abroad was often the only way not to end up in a gas chamber.

Even this very brief historical survey shows that migration had and always has its pros and cons. (Richtermocová 2016)

2.2 Andalusian Historical Social Migration Context

In terms of Andalusian historical social migration context, in the following section, some data explaining the result of the surveys will be added and further analyzed.

The book “La identidad del pueblo andaluz” characterizes many facts, such as the geographic position: “Andalucía has a position between continent and oceans, also being the only territory with France which has a coastline on both the Atlantic and Mediterranean, and it is the closest part in Europe to Africa” (Cano et al. 2001, p. 17).

This situation presents the fact that many cultures have inhabited Andalusia, for example, Phoenicians, Greeks, Tartessians, Romans and Arabs because of evidently constant commercial relations with other countries.

Due to that fact, Andalusian people are used to keep in touch with other cultures, both sporadically and permanently, especially with the Muslim religion.

This fact has created “a peculiar phenomenon of cultural addition/assimilation/synthesis”, the result of which has characterised Andalusia as a mix of cultures; if we study Andalusia history it shows us how Andalusia culture takes in and integrates other cultures (Cano et al. 2001, p. 19).

We would also like to highlight that in general, Spain had been for many decades an “immigrant exporter country” as well as a reception country: in particular, it was Andalusia.

Consequently, we can say that Andalusia population is used to living with other nationalities in its homeland both temporarily and long-term.

2.3 Current Situation in Andalusia

We are going to describe the current immigration situation in Andalusia; therefore, the percentage of immigrants in Andalucía during the period 2008–2015 will be analyzed as well as nationalities of these immigrants in order to create the complex Andalusia characteristics.

According to the “Instituto General de Estadísiticas” data in the graph below in 2015, in Andalusia there were 5.08 immigrants per 1,000 residents in contrast to 2008: that time there were 9.21 immigrants per 1,000 inhabitants. The decline of immigrants started in 2009 and corresponds with the beginning of the serious impact of the economic crisis (Fig. 19.1).

Fig. 19.1
figure 1

Basic demographic indicators, Andalusia

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In the next graph, we can see how the number of immigrants began to decline in 2009; it might be as a consequence of the economic crisis; there was a short recovery in the last year (Fig. 19.2).

Fig. 19.2
figure 2

Number of immigrants per 1,000 residents

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Currently “The III Integral Plan for the immigration in Andalucía Horizonte 2016”Footnote 1 came in force: its principal goal is to promote the integration of immigrants in all aspects of life as well as to recover more information about migration.

According to “La Consejería de Justicia e Interior de la Junta de Andalucía”,Footnote 2 nowadays, there are 192 associations working with immigrants distributed as follows: Almería (78), Cádiz (8), Córdoba (6), Granada (30), Huelva (13), Jaén (3), Málaga (25), and Sevilla (29) (Fig. 19.3).

Fig. 19.3
figure 3

Immigrant associations in Andalusia

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3 Migration in the Czech Republic

Migration is a phenomenon, which is connected with human civilization from time immemorial. Under the term migration we can understand some movement of quantity of people from one country to the other and also some movement within one country. From the general point of view, migration is a natural effect, when people are moving (migrating) from the poorer country into the richer country, e.g., from desert countries into countries with water sources and rich flora and fauna. From the current point of view, the migration is comprehended a bit differently.

Currently, the item migration is very frequently connected with illegal migration. Events of last days but also events from previous time caused that quantity of people from the North Africa and Middle East started to move. Destruction of political systems and successive political destabilisation, civil unrests or economical consequences were the most important reasons why thousands of people started to move towards Europe with the vision of new and better life. Nowadays, the Czech Republic is especially a transit country for people moving to the Germany or Sweden.

Migration of people could be viewed in the conditions of the Czech Republic as a new phenomenon; however, the reality looks different. At the time of Czechoslovakia, there was also migration: for example, a German community had around 3 million of people; there were also minorities of Hungarians, Russians, Poles or Jews. After disintegration of Czechoslovakia and opening borders it was possible to start speaking about new dimension of migration. According the Czech Statistical Office, by the Ministry of Interior of the Czech Republic in 2010, in the Czech Republic there were registered 426,749 foreigners. Most often them were people from the Ukraine (128,636 people; 30%), then from Slovakia (71,392 people; 17%), Vietnam (60,931 people; 14%), Russia (31,037 people; 7%) or Poland (18,572 people; 4.4%) [1] (Fig. 19.4).

Fig. 19.4
figure 4

Migration in the Czech Republic in 2001–2011. Source Migrace v České republice (2012)

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3.1 The Presence of the Vietnamese Community in the Czech Republic—An Excursion into the Past

As already mentioned, the Vietnamese community is the third largest in the Czech Republic. A considerable number of Vietnamese immigrants in the Czech Republic compared to other Central European countries results primarily from immigration-friendly measures in the past and the positive experience of the Vietnamese before 1989. Many students, who had studied in Czechoslovakia before 1989, achieved great success in both the public and private sectors.

To understand the community of Vietnamese living in the Czech Republic, we have to return to the fifties of the twentieth century when the first citizens of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) came to the former Czech-Slovak Republic (CSR). Videlicet, an agreement on economic and scientific cooperation was signed between CSR and DRV; in compliance with that document, since the late fifties, hundreds of students, trainees, stayees and personnel (later on) were coming to be educated primarily in the mechanical engineering and light industry. After that, many other agreements followed until 1985 when the number of Vietnamese citizens in Czechoslovakia started decreasing due to due to political decisions.

With the change in political, legal and social atmosphere after 1989, the situation of Vietnamese citizens in Czechoslovakia had to change as well. Many of them had to return home and those who remained had to change the purpose and manner of their stay: instead of employment contracts based on bilateral agreements, they Vietnamese started applying for residence in the Czechoslovak Federative Republic (CSFR) because of the family reunification or business together with Czech citizens.

Already in the late nineties, the Czech Republic, a new wave of Vietnamese immigrants is coming to the Czech Republic: they differ from the previous ones in exclusively economical motivation. A large part of them come from rural regions and cities of the former North Vietnam, mainly from poor provinces.

However, this community does not represent almost any problem in the Czech Republic as well as Slovak citizens or immigrants from Poland. The question of Russian and Ukrainian immigrants is somewhat problematic, especially with regard to the risks associated with Russian or Ukrainian-language mafia. However, the most pressing issue for the Czech Republic residents consists in Romany migration and all the problems and risks associated with it (Analysis 2011; Speranza 2016).

The issue of Romany minority in the Czech Republic is a sore problem, which, among others, is interlinked with the long history of persecution and harassment of Romanies in the Czech Republic and Slovakia territory since the Middle Ages and the recent large migration of Slovak Romanies in the Czech Republic after the breakup of the federation.

The alarm was triggered in 2000 when almost 8010 Slovak citizens (in the vast majority Romanies) submitted the application for asylum. In 2002, the total number of applications from Slovakia reached 843 (the third position in the ranking after the Ukraine and Vietnam), and in the following year the number jumped to 1,055 (Czech statistical Office 2011). Why did a wave of migration raise so suddenly? The answer is simple: the Slovak Romanies discovered a wonderful way to exploit “the Czech welfare state”.

3.1.1 Little History—The Romanies in the Czech and Slovak Countries

According to Emilia Horvathova, a significant Slovak gypsyologist, the Romanies were first discovered in the Bohemian countries and Slovakia in the 13th century along with the crusade returning from the Holy Land at the period when the Hungarian territory experienced the raid of the Tatars in 1241: the Romanies were fleeing en masse to Bohemia to be rescued from raiders. The first actual statement about the Romanies in Bohemian countries dates back to 1399: those were musicians, blacksmiths or even soldiers in the service of Hungarian kings. At that period, the coexistence with the Romany population did not cause almost any troubles to the original population of the Czech basin. The problems began after the defeat of the Hungarian army by the Turks at Mohacs on August 28, 1526: in fear of the Turks and their possible “spies”, the Romanies began to be persecuted. In 1538, the King Ferdinand I Habsburg issued the first act restricting the movement of the Romanies, and his followers, Leopold I and Joseph I continued this restrictive approach. Maria Theresa prohibited to use the expression “Romany” and “Gypsy” and ordered to call the Romanies only “new citizens” or “new Hungarians”. Prohibitions and persecutions alternated with attempts to assimilate ethnic groups: however, none of them met with any particular interest by common Romany population. The Second World War brought far the worst persecution of the Romany population: During the Romany holocaust (known as Pojarmos), about 8,000 Romanies were killed in Czechia and about 1,000 were killed in Slovakia. The post-war census of 1947 states that 101,000 Romanies were living in Czechoslovakia: 84,438 were living in Slovakia and the rest in Czechia. Their number was steadily increasing due to high birth-rates, and after the breakup of the federation in 1993, the number of the Romanies in Slovakia was estimated to be 400,000; in the Czech Republic the number was estimated to be 150,000 inhabitants (Nečas and Miklušáková 2002).

4 Analyses of Andalusia and Czech Surveys

Why do the Czechs respond significantly differently from the Andalusia citizens to the questions 7–10? It will not be easy to find the answer to this question; nevertheless, it might be rooted in the history of both nations with different historical backgrounds and experience.

4.1 Methodology

This part will be devoted to analysing the surveys, which had been conducted by 400 citizens within each of both territories, Andalusia and the Czech Republic. The questions were written in the official language of each country so that everybody could understand properly. Further, questions are presented in English. The surveys consisted of 10 questions; four of them were general introductory questions, such as sex, age, economical situations and education.

Questionnaire:

  1. 1.

    Are you a male or female?

    Male Female

  2. 2.

    What is your age?

    18 to 24 25 to 34 35 to 44 45 to 54 55 to 64 65 to 74 75 or older

  3. 3.

    What is your economical situation?

    Lower class Working class Middle class Upper class

  4. 4.

    What is the highest level of education you have completed?

    Basic studies High school College University

  5. 5.

    Have you ever heard about migrations?

    Yes No

  6. 6.

    How much do you consider you know about migrations?

    I do not know anything about it I know very litle

    I know something I know a lot about it

  7. 7.

    What do you think about migrations?

    It is something positive It is something negative I do not know

  8. 8.

    How much do you consider immigrants have affected your life? 1 < 5

    1 2 3 4 5

  9. 9.

    Which of these words do you consider are more related with immigration? (you can choose more than one)

    Multicultural phenomenon Terrorist Integration Criminality

    Economic problems Economic benefits Lower unemployment

    Social benefits Tolerance Danger

  10. 10.

    How do you consider the impact of immigration in your country

    Positive Negative Neutral

Further, they had to answer two questions about the migrations in terms of a general aspect; “have you ever heard about the word migration?” and they should have judged “how much do you know about migration?”

Finally, there were four specific questions about immigration related to the personal point of view of the respondent (saying if it is positive or negative); respondents were selecting from the list of expressions, which was/were more related with migrations; they had to mark 1–5 how much has immigration affected their life, and, evaluate the impact in their homeland.

4.2 Results

Resulting from the first block of questions related to the personal information, we cannot find a big difference between Andalusia and the Czech Republic; however, in the Andalusia survey, we can find much wider range of age than in the Czech Republic: therefore, the level of studies may result in more varieties as well. (See question no. 1, 2, 3 and 4.)

Considering the second block of questions related with migrations, in both regions, the high percentage of respondents knows the word migrations, and a high percentage of Czechs ranges between “I know something” and “I know a lot about it” (91.77%); Andalusia respondents (73.81%) say they have this knowledge about migrations. (See question no. 5 and 6.)

However, when analyzing the last block of questions related with immigration, we can find bigger differences.

When we ask the question: “How do you consider migration?”, 48.3% of Andalusia people do not know how to consider it and 41.31% think it is something positive; on the contrary 22.95% of the Czech citizens do not know how to consider it and 68.8% of them think it is something negative. (See question no. 7.)

As to the impact on the life, we are able to find similar results; however, when we ask them to match the word immigration with a list of expressions, we can see that the majority of Andalusia people match it with the words multicultural phenomena at first, then with integration and tolerance; on the other hand, the Czech people underline expressions multicultural phenomena, terrorism, criminality and danger. (See question no. 8 and 9.)

The last question related with the impact of immigration on the countries, we can find again diverse results between both territories: the majority of Andalusians (43.62%) consider it has had a neutral impact and 36.99% consider it has had a positive impact in their countries, the majority of Czechs consider it has had a negative impact (73.77%), and 19.67% expresses a neutral impact. (See question no. 10.)

4.3 Discussion

First of all we should start characterizing two different expressions: racism and xenophobia. The former means that we do not like the immigrants, but we do not attack them; however, the latter means that we take some actions against immigrants.

People start to be racist when they have to compete for the resources, when they consider the government to be more in favour of the immigrants and more against inland population. How to tackle such situations? We believe, we should work with the immigrants and with the population of the country.

As becomes evident from the results, both territories have a completely different point of view on immigrants; for that reason, the work process in both territories should be different.

In our opinion, we should spend more time on the integration advert campaign, which should involve both Czech people as well as immigrants: the idea should consist in promoting the integrations in all aspects of life; in Andalusia, we should invest more resources in occupational campaigns.

5 Conclusion

The answers, in particular to questions 7, 9, and 10 being surveyed in both regions were different; therefore, the authors of this pre-case study concluded to continue studying these above-mentioned problems: in particular, to gain much larger sample of respondents, not only in terms of the total number. It should primarily be a representative number of respondents in each gender, age and education categories as well as in essential pairs of these categories so that correlation between individual categories and their relation to immigrants could be examined (Tomei 2016).

The authors of the study believe that sufficiently detailed knowledge in this field may help not only to understand the approach and attitude of the examined regions population towards immigrants but this knowledge can also help to prevent potential risks in terms of social tensions, social unrest or other undesirable effects associated with current and future migration waves.

Based on the information collected and its contradiction, the authors would like to refine the draft measures, which could be taken and performed by administration as well as by other stakeholder charities.

The authors are intending to provide the case study results to selected charity organizations for their use.